In 2006 the buy-to-let market celebrated its 10th birthday. Before 1996 buying a property as a rental investment was severely restricted by; the lack of financial products (to get a mortgage you either needed to have loads of cash or to take on a commercial loan which was both more expensive and had to be taken out over a shorter term than a standard mortgage) and legal issues (because the law was weighted on the side of the tenant, landlords would fear the possibility of creating a sitting tenant). In 1996 ARLA (the Association of Residential Letting Agents) created the buy-to-let market to renew rental stocks in the wake of the property slump of the early 90's, helped by four mortgage lenders who launched the first buy-to-let mortgage products. The law also changed in this year to re-align the legal balance between landlord and tenant.

 

The wonderful thing about buy-to-let investing is that you don't need any specific training and you don't need a huge amount of money. You just need to find the right property in the right location and you're away. With the recent property boom buy-to-let investors have seen their portfolios rushing up in price, earning them not only rental income, but substantial capital gains when they decide to cash out and sell their properties, making many many new millionaires from ordinary people.

 

In the very near future we will be expanding this important section to include information and advice on how to choose your buy-to-let property, the tax implications of buy-to-let investing, licensing requirements for some properties, insuring your investment and your landlord responsibilities. In the meantime, if you would like advice on financing your buy-to-let purchase, then we could put you in touch with a firm with extensive experience in this area, Chadney Bulgin. Also if you would like to free up your deposit monies between exchange and completion, speak to Exchange Bond.